The snow has stopped, for the moment at least. A pretty dark sky out there, though, reminds us that possibly heavy snow is forecast for tonight.

The snow is back, and it's coming down hard. The sun was/is out at Suginohara, it seems, but it's remained overcast with solid snowfall all morning at the base of Akakan.

Kind of a dust on crust morning today, although the crust is not all that bad and will probably improve with this morning's sun and its warmth.

Sunny in Myoko, although the day started with a little bit of light snow.

Another good day of snow. Light snow. More snow than expected. Again.

Nice and sunny out there today. Yesterday's snow has really settled nicely, so hopefully things are a little more stable off in the backcountry.

Back to snow that exceeds expectations: I seem to remember the forecast was for 20 to 40cm, we got 56cm.

Sorry to be late this morning; Lots of blowing snow and wind meant a car that needed to be yanked out of a drift.... And the usual hours of fun digging things out.

Well, it's started. Not a huge amount yet, exactly in the middle of Niigata Prefecture's forecast of 20 to 40cm by 9 am this morning (at 32cm).

A break in the snowfall....until I was finished checking for this morning, of course!

A lot of lightening and thunder last night, a sign that snow would be falling.

Sunny and cold to start the day, although it will be getting warmer through the day.

More snow! More than expected!

Lots of snow today. Lots of wind last night, too,